The Aqeedah of Tawheed

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The Aqeedah of Tawheed

A clarification of that which opposes and harms it, from major and
minor shirk, ta’teel and bid‘ah
By the Noble Shaikh,
Dr. Saaleh bin Fawzaan bin Abdullaah al-Fawzaan
(A member of the Committee of Senior Scholars)

Translated by
Abu Naasir ‘Abid bin Basheer

Part 4: Tawheed-al-Asmaa-was-Sifaat

PART 4: TAWHEED-AL -ASMAA-WAS-SIFAAT

4.1 The proofs from the Book, the Sunnah and the intellect for affirming the
Names and Attributes.

4.2 The methodology of Ahl-us-Sunnah-wal -Jamaa‘ah regarding the Names and

Attributes of Allaah.

4.3 A refutation of those who deny all or some of the Names and Attributes.

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 The Aqeedah of Tawheed

4.1 The proofs from the Book, the Sunnah and the
intellect for affirming
Names
A) and
Proofs from the Attributes.
Book and the Sunnah:

Previously we have mentioned that tawheed is divided into three categories

tawheed ar -rububiyyah, tawheed al-uluhiyyah and tawheed al-asmaa-was-sifaat.
We mentioned a number of proofs for the first two types i.e. tawheed ar-
rububiyyah and tawheed al-uluhiyyah. Now we will mention the proofs for the
third type which is tawheed al-asmaa-was-sifaat. The proof from the Book is
His, the Most High’s saying:
“And to Allaah belong the most Perfect and Beautiful
Names, so call on Him
by this
In them, verseandAllaah
leave the company
affirms the Names of those for who belieand
Himself or
deny
informs HisusNames.
that they They
are
will be requited
Perfect and Beautiful. for what He hastheyordered
used tousdo.” [al-‘Aa’raaf
to supplicate to
(7):
Him180] by saying: “O
Allaah, O Rahmaan (the Most Beneficent), O Raheem (the
Most Kind), O
Hayy
“Allaah, (thenone Ever-Living),
has the right O toQayyoom
be worshipped (the Sustainer
but He.and To
Protector),
Him belongOthe Lord of
most
the
“He is worlds.”
Perfect and
Allaah, Allaah
noneBeautiful
has has
the right bepromised
Names.”
to [Taa
worshipped to Him,
but recompense
Haa (20):
the 8] the
All-Knower of evil
deeds
he unseenof andthose who
the seen. He is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. He is
Allaah none has the right to be worshipped but He, the King, the Holy, the
deny
One FreeHis
fromNames, meaning
all imperfections, thatof security,
the Giver they deviate
the Watcherfrom the truth
over His
either due
creatures, to
the All-Mighty, the Compeller, the Supreme. Glory be to Allaah,
(High is He) above all that they associate as partners with Him. He is Allaah,
denying
the Creator, thethe Names
Inventor of Allaah
of all things, the Bestower orof forms.
by To making ta’weel
Him belong
(interpretation)
the of them
most Perfect and Beautiful withAll that is in the heavens and the earth
Names.
glorify Him. And He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.” [al -Hashr (59): 22-24]
an incorrect meaning or any other type of denial. He has
promised
So these versesto prove the necessity to affirm the Names of Allaah.

recompense
B) The proof fromthem for oftheir
the Sunnah evil action.
the Messenger He,alaihi
(sallallaahu thewasallam)
Most High,
said:
for the necessity of affirming the Names of Allaah:

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 The Aqeedah of Tawheed

It has been reported by Abu Hurairah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that
the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Verily Allaah has
ninety-nine Names, one hundred except one. Whoever memorises and
comprehends them will enter Paradise.” 1 However the names of Allaah are not
restricted to this number due that which has been reported from ‘Abdullaah
ibn Mas’ood that the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: “I ask You by
every Name which You have Named Yourself with or revealed in Your Book
or taught any of Your creation or kept with Yourself in the knowledge of the
unseen with You, that you make the Glorious Qur’aan the life of my heart.”
Each of Allaah’s names comprises one of His Attributes. So
al-‘Aleem (the All-
Knowing) indicates Knowledge, al-Hakeem (the All-Wise)
indicates
“Say: Wisdom,
“He is Allaah, the One. The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures
need. He begets not, nor was He begotten; And there is none co-equal or
as-Samee’
comparable and [alal-Baseer
unto Him.” -Ikhlaas (112):indicate
1-4] Hearing and Sight.
Similarly all the Names
From Anas (may Allaah be pleased with him) that he said: “One of the Ansaar
indicate
used to lead an Attribute
the people of inAllaah.
in prayer He, theAnd
Masjid al-Qubaa’. Most
everyHigh,
time hesaid:
recited a verse, he would begin with: “Say: He is Allaah, the One and
Only…”(Surah al-Ikhlaas 112), until its end, and then recited another Surah
with it, and he would do this in every rak‘ah. Because of this his people spoke
to him, saying: “You begin with this Surah and then you do not regard it as
enough until you recite another one. You should either recite it (only) or leave
it and recite another one.” He said: “I will not leave it, if you do not like it, I
shall leave you.” They knew that he was one of their best, and they did not like
to be led by anyone else, so when the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)
came to them, they told him the story. He (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: “O
so and so, what stops you from doing what your people ask you to? What
makes you recite this surah in every rak‘ah?” He said: “I love this surah.” He
(sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) said: “Your love for it will enter you into the
Garden.” (Bukhaari)

And from ‘Aishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) that the Prophet (saws)
sent a man to a troop and he used to recite to his companions during their
Salaah. He would end with “Say He is Allaah, the One and Only.” So when
they returned, they mentioned this to the prophet (SAWS) so he said, “ Ask
him why he does such a thing.” So they asked him and he said, “ Because it is
1 Bukhaaree and Muslim.

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“Nay, both His Hands are widely outstretched.”
[al-Maa‘idah (5): 64] The Aqeedah of Tawheed

an attribute of the Most Merciful and I love to recite it.” So

He, far said,
the prophet removed
“ from all imperfections,
mentioned that
Inform him that He becomes
Allaah, Pleased,
the Most High, loves him.”
Loves, becomes Angry and Displeased, as well as
other
Meaning Attributes which He
that it contains the Attributes of the Most
“And the Face of your
Merciful.
has described Lord with
Himself full of or
Majesty
His and Honour
Messenger
will abide forever.”
(sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) has
[ar-Rahmaan
So He, the Him (55): 27]and Free from Imperfections, has
Glorified
described with.
“(Allaah) said:He“O
mentioned that has Iblees, what prevents you from
And that
in He
prostrating
a Face, has twoto
Hisyourself
saying: Hands:
the
C) The Iintellectual
one whom have created proofs forMyaffirming
with Both the
Hands?” [Saad
Names
(38): 75]and Attributes indicated by
the religion:

1. The magnificent creation in all its different

forms and its organisation in
carrying out those things which are required for
it and its course upon pre-
decreed paths, indicate the Might, Power,
Knowledge, Wisdom, Will and
Wish of Allaah.

2. Kindness and goodness, removal of harm and

relief from grief are all
things which indicate Mercy, Generosity and
Open-Handedness.
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3. Punishment and recompense of the sinful

indicate the Anger of Allaah
for such people and His Hatred of them.

4. Honouring and establishing the obedient ones

The methodology of Ahlus Sunnah wal- The Aqeedah of Tawheed

Jamaa‘ah
4.2 The methodologyfrom the
of Ahlus Salaf
Sunnah us-Saaleh
wal-Jamaa‘ah and
regarding the Names and
those who follow them, is to affirm the Names
Attributes of Allaah.

and Attributes of Allaah as they

have been reported in the Book and the
Sunnah. Their methodology is built
upon the following principles:

1. They affirm the Names and Attributes of

Allaah as reported in the Book
and the Sunnah with the apparent meaning
indicated by the words. They do
not interpret them with other than their
apparent meanings nor do they deny
the meanings of the words and what they
indicate.

2. They negate any likeness of the Attributes

of Allaah to the attributes of
the creation, as He, the Most High, says:

“There is nothing like unto Him, and He is

the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” [ash-
Shuraa (42): 11]
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3. They do not go beyond that which has been

reported in the Book and
the Sunnah regarding the affirmation of the
Those who deny the Names and Attributes of Allaah are of
three categories: The Aqeedah of Tawheed

4.3 A refutation of those who deny some or all the followers

Names and Attributes of
1) The
Allaah.
Jahmiyyah: They are the of al-Jahm bin
Safwaan and they
deny all the Names and Attributes.

2) The Mu’tazilah: They are the followers of Waasil bin

‘Ataa who
abandoned the circles of al-Hasan al-Basree. They affirm
the Names while
holding that they are merely words which are devoid of
meaning and they deny
all the Attributes.

3) The ‘Ashaairah and the Maaturidiyyah2: The

‘Ashaairah, the
Maaturidiyyah and their followers affirm the Names and
some of the Attributes
while denying others.

The misconceptions upon which all their madhabs are built

is their claim to
free Allaah from likening to His creation. This is because
some of the creation
are known by some of Allaah’s Names and are described by
some of His
Attributes. They claim that sharing the Name, the Attribute
2 The ‘Ashariyyah are the followers of the madhab of Abul Musaa al-‘Asharee before his return to the
madhab of the Ahlus Sunnah, but they continued to be upon his old madhab, so attributing them to him is not

and
correct.
The theiraremeaning
Maaturidiyyah the followers of Abul Mansoor al-Maturidee.

necessitates their likeness in reality and therefore this

necessitates likening the
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creation to the Creator.

So in view of this, they are obliged to carry out one of the

following two matters:
 The Aqeedah of Tawheed

“Thus We have sent you to a community before whom

other communities
have passed away, in order that you might recite unto
them what We have
inspired to you, while they disbelieve in the Most
Beneficent.” [ar-Ra‘ad (13):
“While they disbelieve in the Most Beneficent.”
30]
Ibn Jareer mentioned that this was during the treaty of
Hudaybiyyah,
The reason forwhen the
the revelation of this verse was that when
writer
the Qurayshwrote in the treaty
heard the that occurred between them and
the Messengerofof Allaah (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)
Messenger
Allaah
mention(sallallaahu
‘ar -Rahmaan’ alaihi(the wasallam): “In the Name of
Allaah, ar-Rahmaan,they
Most Beneficent), ar- rejected it. So Allaah revealed
Raheem”,
regarding them: where upon the Quraysh said: “As for ar-
Rahmaan,
“Say: “Invoke then we do not
Allaah or invoke the Most Beneficent, by
know
whatever him.” name you
invoke Him (it is the same), for to Him belong the Best
Ibn
Names.”Jareer[al-Israa’
also reported
(17): from Ibn Abbaas that when the
Prophet
“And
110] when (sallallaahu
it is said to them: “Prostrate to the Most
alaihi wasallam)
Beneficent, they wassay:in“Andprostration, he would supplicate by
saying:
what
So
He, is “O
the Rahmaan
these mushrikeen
the Most Most
are theBeneficent?”
High, predecessors of the Jahmiyyah, the Mu’tazilah, the
saystheinNames
Surat-al-Furqaan (25): 60;
‘Ashaairah and all those who negate and Attributes which Allaah
(the Most Beneficent), O Raheem (the Most Kind).” So the
has affirmed for Himself or which have been affirmed by His Messenger
mushrikeen
(sallallaahu said: What evil predecessors for evil followers…?!!
alaihi wasallam).
“He claims that he only calls upon One, while he
The refutation against them is from many different angles:
supplicates to two.” Then
1) Allaah (Glorified
Allaah revealed: be He from all that they associate with Him and the
Most High) and His Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) have affirmed
Names and Attributes for Him. So negating all or some of them is actually
negation of that which Allaah and His Messenger (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam)

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 The Aqeedah of Tawheed

have affirmed and this is opposition to Allaah and His

Messenger (sallallaahu
alaihi wasallam).

2) The existence of these Attributes in the creation or the

fact that some of
the creation share some of the Names does not necessitate
likeness between
Allaah and His creation. This is because Allaah has Names
“And
and they gave him glad tidings of an intelligent son,
Attributes
having
which are knowledge
particular to Him and the creation have names
(aleem).”
and attributes [adh-Dhaariyaat
which (51): 28]
“So We gavetohim
are particular theJust
them. glad liketidings
Allaahofhas a forbearing
an Essence which boy.”
Meaning
[as-Saaffaat
is not similar Ishaaq
to and
(37): 101]He named the other one haleem.
the essence of the creation, He has Names and Attributes
Meaning
“Truly,
which Ismaa‘eel.
areAllaah
not likeis Ever So One ‘Aleem All
All Hearer, is not like [an-Nisaa
Seer.” the other
and
(4): similarly
58]
the names and One attributes of the creation. Similarity in the
Haleem
name and isthe
notgeneral
like the other. He has Named Himself by
“Verily, We have created man from drops of mixed
saying:
Similarly He has named
meaning
discharge, doinnot to try some
necessitate
order of Hisin slaves
similarity reality.samee’
Allaah andhas
baseer,
named when
him, soHimselfWe gave He said:
him the ability to hear and see.” [al-
‘Aleem
Insaan (76):(All-Knowing)
2] and Haleem (the Most Kind) and He
has also named
“Verily Allaah is Most Kind and Most Merciful towards
some
One of His slaves
Samee’ is notaslike
‘aleem.
the other nor is One Baseer like
mankind.” [al-Hajj
the
(22):other.
Similarly He hasHe
65] has
named some of His slaves ra‘oof and raheem, when He said:
named Himself ar-Ra’oof (the Most Kind) and ar-
“Verily, there has come unto you a Messenger from amongst yourselves. It
Raheem
grieves (the
him that youMost Merciful),
should receive any injury or difficulty. He is anxious for
so He said:
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 The Aqeedah of Tawheed

you and for the believers he is full of pity, kind (ra’oof),

and
3) The merciful
one who does not possess perfect attributes is not befitting to be a
worshipped deity. And due to this Ibraaheem said to his father:
(raheem).” [at-Tawbah (9): 128]
4)
“Why
“Did they do not
yousee worship
that it couldthat which
neither neither
speak tohears nor
them nor
sees?”
guide [Maryam
them to the (19): 42]
One
“And Ra’oof
they is not
will like
never the encompass
other and One Raheemofis His
anything not
way?”
like the [al -‘Aa’raaf (7): 148]
other.
Knowledge.”
He, the Most[al-Baqarah High, said(2): in refutation of those who
Similarly
255] He has described Himself with Attributes and
worshipped
5) the calf:
has Affirmation
also described of His
Attributes is perfection and denying
them
“And
slaves is
of deficiency,
withknowledge,
similar soyou (mankind)
attributes, as in have
His been given only
saying:
So
the He
one has
who described
does not Himself
have any as having
attributes Knowledge
is either and
devoid
aalso
little.” [al-Israa
described His (17):
or
85] deficient, and
slaves
Allaah having
is far knowledge,
removed fr whereby
om that. He said:
“We raise to degrees whom We Please, but over all those
And
endowed He said:with
6)
knowledge isofthe
Ta’weel theAll-Knowing.”
Attributes from the apparent
[Yusuf (12): 76]meaning
has no proof, so it
“But those who had been given knowledge said… [al
is
Andfalsehood said:80]and withholding from their meanings
He(28):
-Qasas
indicates that Allaah has
“Truly, Allaah
addressed us inis the All-Strong,
Qur’aan All-Mighty.”
with the meaning [al of
He
“Theredescribed
is nothing Himself as having Strength,
like unto Him, and He is the All- as He said:
-Hajj
something (22): 40]
that we cannot
Hearer,
“Verily the
Allaah All-Seer.”
is the Provider, the[ash-
Owner of Strength, the Most Strong.” [adh-
understand,
Dhaariyaat (51): 58]despite the fact that He has ordered us to
Shuraa (42): 11]
supplicate using His
And He described His slaves as having strength whereby He said:
Names. So howyoucan weof) weakness,
supplicate to Him with
So Heis He
“Allaah negated
Who created for Himself
in (a state likeness to anything
then else and
gave you strength
something
after whose
weakness, then meaning
after strength we weakness and grey hair.” [ar-Rum
gave (you)
affirmed that
(30): 54] and so on. He has
do not understand? Similarly He has ordered us to
Hearing and Sight. So this indicates that affirmation of
reflect
-It
-befit over
Affirmation without
Purifying
is known the
that the Names whole
likeness, and,
(Allaah of thefrom
and Attributes of Allaahany defect)
are particular to Him and
theHimAttributes does not
while the names of the creation are particular to them and befit
Qur’aan, so how can He order us tonecessitate
reflect over
without
necessitate
them. denial.
Similarity inlikeness
the name and and it also
the general proves
meaning the obligation to
does not
something
similarity whose
in reality. This ismeaning
due to the factwe that there is no similarity between the
affirm the Attributes
named and the described. And this is apparent and all praise is due to Allaah.
do not understand?
whilst denying any likeness to Allaah. This is the
meaning of the saying of
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So this clarifies that it is necessary to affirm the Names

Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa‘ah regarding negation and
and Attributes of Allaah
affirmation of the Names
in a manner that befits Him, whilst negating any likeness
and Attributes:
to the creation, as He,
the Most High, said: